Why Marketing Programs Fail – Reason #2

A Failure to Operationalize the Campaign

This happens too often to mention. A campaign is launched but the service center is not aware of the campaign and is unprepared for a surge in calls or the discount code needed to get free shipping on the web site is not set up correctly.

Failures in marketing operations not only cause stress for your co-workers, they often lead to dissatisfied customers and higher costs to serve. Fortunately with a little advance planning most of the issues associated with operations can be solved with a simple check list. Here are 7 questions you should always ask before kicking off a project;

Will the project require changes to the web site?

Will the project create calls to the service center?

Will the project impact field sales?

What do I want to measure/learn from the project?

What tactics will I use to execute the campaign?

How will orders be fulfilled

What other projects will be in market at the same time?

For each of these questions, identify the person(s) responsible for the task and invite them to a project kick-off. Go over all details of the project and make sure everyone leaves the room understanding the project and what is required from them. This is important. If the team is unaware of expectations, you will have last minute fire drills.

That’s it for today. Obviously there are a host of activities that come out of the kick-off – and it is unlikely that everyone will march out of the kick-off meeting in lock-step with you and your goals. But…..

….that is a subject for a different blog posting on a date in the near future. Until then, keep the creative juices flowing.